A few months ago, Pamela, a 20-year-old from Mexico, dropped out of her last year of secondary school. She had too many absences due to family reasons and the school demanded that she study for eight more... Show More + months in order to earn her degree.In the end, she decided to drop out because of time and money issues. Today she works at a restaurant and has just completed a secondary school certificate. She says that since she left school, her opinion about education has changed. “Your ideas start to change and you make more of an effort to study, to move forward,” says Pamela. “After all, your family is not going to keep supporting you forever.”Of every 100 students who enter primary school in Mexico, just 46 will complete upper secondary school. The graduation rate at this level in Mexico is 47%, below the Latin American average of 52%, and much lower than the average of 84% for OECD countries (the most developed in the world), according to a new World Bank study.Over the past 20 y Show Less -

Skills and EmployabilityAs in many other parts of the world, there is an increasing demand for “new economy” skills in Tajikistan. New economy skills are strong analytical and organizational skills, including... Show More + non-routine cognitive analytical and interpersonal skills. Although there are competing explanations for this trend – including technology advances and globalization – it is clear that Tajikistan is at the early stages of modernizing its economy and experiencing a growing demand for new economy skills.The report presents robust evidence that cognitive and non-cognitive skills are important factors for employability in Tajikistan. Individuals with better skills are not only more likely to be employed – they also typically have more desirable jobs in the formal sector, with labor law protection and access to certain benefits.The Skills RoadmapThe report argues that there are weaknesses in the way skills are formed in Tajikistan. Crucially, large variations in observed skills among p Show Less -

Azerbaijan is a resource-rich country in the South Caucasus region that has used its resource wealth well over the past decade. Poverty has been reduced, the middle-class has grown, and the country has... Show More + made progress on sharing prosperity among its population of 9.4 million citizens.From 2007 to 2012, the incidence of poverty in Azerbaijan – based on the national poverty line – fell dramatically from 15.8 percent to 6 percent. During that same period, the unemployment rate dropped also – reaching about 5.2 percent in 2012.Nevertheless, there are concerns today that the previous positive trends in poverty and unemployment reduction are at risk of stalling, or even reversing. Much of the risk relates to an over-dependency and concentration of employment in certain sectors, together with a rapidly growing population of young people entering the labor market. In addition, the current slowdown in oil revenue is compounding the risk even further.Consequently, there is a growing need for the i Show Less -

The South Caucasus country of Armenia is no exception.Using the poverty line of $2.50 a day for the Europe and Central Asia region, Armenia’s poverty rate remains high today at 30 percent. The incidence... Show More + of poverty is found to be closely associated with the labor market outcomes of individuals. For example, heads-of-households who are unemployed or inactive are considerably more likely to be poor than heads-of-households who are employed. In 2010, half of the population from households where the household-head was unemployed was living below the poverty line.In Armenia, the unemployment rate is at 16 percent today: out of 100 persons of working age (15-64 years), only 53 are employed. In addition, every other unemployed person is jobless for more than a year. The problem is not only high unemployment – but also low labor force participation. Only about two-thirds of persons of working age are employed or looking for work.And, many of those who are employed have low-productivity jobs. Th Show Less -

The study identified some weaknesses in the way skills are formed. While it is true that skills are developed during different stages in life and a host of actors are involved – families play a central... Show More + role, for instance – the Kyrgyz education system has a mixed record in skill formation. Three quarters of 3 to 5 year old children in the Kyrgyz Republic lack access to pre-schools, raising concerns about the formation of cognitive and non-cognitive skills at an early age. In addition, despite generally high rates of education completion, about half of the young people entering the labor market with a secondary general education lack the cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical skills needed to secure quality jobs. Furthermore, too many tertiary graduates have skill levels that are comparable to the skill levels of secondary general graduates.It is generally accepted that workers with higher educational qualifications have higher cognitive and non-cognitive skills, but in the Kyrgyz Show Less -

The millions of workers, consumers, and entrepreneurs who bear the cost of this are often unaware the impact these policies have on the opportunities to which they aspire. In Egypt, for example, aggregate... Show More + employment growth declines by about 1.4 percentage points a year when connected firms enter new business sectors. Without grasping this, the internal debate critical for economic reform is curtailed.In economies in MENA, like economies everywhere else, it is the start-ups and the most productive firms that are the engines of job creation. The report provides plenty of evidence to support this: in Lebanon, about 177 per cent of net job creation from 2005 to 2010 was generated by micro start-ups; in Tunisia, small startups created 580,000 jobs from 1996 to 2010—92 percent of all net job creation. Although it has fewer start-ups overall, Jordan provides a striking example of what entrepreneurs can achieve against the odds. Unable to tap start-up capital, a Jordanian couple who retur Show Less -

This note, Rebalancing Serbia’s Economy: Improving Competitiveness, Strengthening the Private Sector and Creating Jobs, offers in-depth analysis of key areas where Serbia has a distinct comparative advantage... Show More + and provides concrete recommendations on how the country can better exploit these advantages. Among those areas that need particular attention to stimulate growth, one stands out above all the others, according to the note: exports. Although Serbia maintains a strong comparative advantage in ICT services, transport services, and food production the country is not exploiting these advantages and continues to lag regional competitors. Food production represents the largest subsector of manufacturing and accounts for nearly 20% of employment in this sector, while ICT services comprise about half of services exports.These segments of the Serbian economy represent solid areas of growth - with ICT showcasing the country’s ability to expand in an area of modern business throug Show Less -

Egypt needs better jobs. It also needs more jobs. The small-sized firms Egypt needed to employ Egypt’s young working population aren’t growing fast enough to meet the demands. Although overall employment... Show More + has remained stable in recent years, the trend has been toward a growth in jobs in the informal sector that are often disturbingly insecure. The World Bank’s Egyptian Labor Market Report 2014 "More Jobs, Better Jobs: A Priority for Egypt" sees this as the result of stagnation in Egypt’ s formal private sector over the last 15 years. Along with a decrease in public sector hiring, the gap in employment has been filled with informal jobs offering neither written contracts nor social insurance.This burden of the jobs shortage has fallen primarily on Egypt’s youth. More than 75 percent of the country’s unemployed are young—between 15 and 29 years of age. Young Egyptians are two to three times more educated than the previous generation. However, young men find themselves havi Show Less -

Employment servicesContacts with employers in nearby cities have also been made to help trainees land a job as soon as they finish with their courses.Xu Wenshuai owns a factory that manufactures ethnic... Show More + clothing. He signed a contract with the government to recruit graduates of the training program who have passed course exams.“They will be my frontline workers,” he said. “If we recruit ‘green’ hands somewhere else, their skills tend to be poor. But these people have already been trained and can hit the ground running, which is very good for our operations.”The movement from rural to urban has also given rise to a new profession – labor brokers, who handle almost all aspects of migrants’ employment, such as helping them with interviews and the recruitment process, dealing with human resources and administrative procedures, payroll details, and transport.Yang Baohu, once a migrant worker himself, began to work as a labor broker a couple years ago. “I organized the surplus labor in my coun Show Less -

Challenges to Formal TVETEvery year an estimated 140,000 students complete general education without having acquired job-related skills. The Government of Sri Lanka recognizes the potential role of the... Show More + TVET system to close the gap. The system’s current deficiencies create a challenge. The report outlines these deficiencies in terms of organization and management effectiveness; access and equity; internal efficiency and effectiveness (for example, quality of instruction, unit costs, and resource utilization) and relevance or external efficiency.Since 1990 Sri Lanka’s labor force has been growing by 2 percent a year, from 6 million in 1990 to 8.46 million in 2012. The working age population (aged15–59) is now expected to grow more slowly, from an estimated 13.3 million in 2011 to 13.9 million in 2026, and then gradually decline. Sri Lanka now faces such labor market challenges as graduate youth unemployment, low rate of female participation in the labour force and underemployment of educ Show Less -

Many Pacific island countries (PICs) face important upcoming challenges in providing adequate employment opportunities to young, increasingly urban, and often rapidly growing populations. Population growth... Show More + and rapid urbanization in small Pacific Island Countries is causing understandable concern in the context of weak economic and employment growth.Realistic expectations are needed regarding the trajectory of development. Due to inherent geographic obstacles, PICs are unlikely to experience export-driven development and associated employment creation on the scale seen in the broader East Asia Pacific region. Employment strategies must include less conventional policy options and focus on areas where PICs have established strengths and advantages.Increasing international labor mobility through the erosion of regulatory barriers and investment in transferable human capital is vital. Employment opportunities in small, dispersed and isolated economies are less extensive than those in large Show Less -

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2014—A panel of business policy makers, entrepreneurs and bankers on Friday met during the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings to discuss ways to boost the creation of large African businesses... Show More + using homegrown investments.Moderator of the panel, Hubert Danso, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of Africa Investor (Ai) Group, opened the discussion.Based on their policies and their experiences managing private companies and lending organizations, Danso asked panelists to share their ideas for how best to successfully create large firms. The panel, made up of policy facilitators and business growth and private sector practitioners, included Jean Philippe Prosper, IFC Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean; Sidi Ould Tah, Minister of Economic Affairs and Development for Mauritania, Dorothé Cossi Sossa, Secrétaire Permanent de l'OHADA; Admassu Tadesse, President & CEO of PTA Bank; and Villa Kulild, Director General of Nora Show Less -

Employment and self-confidenceOnce hired, the young people are given the title “brigadier de salubrité” (sanitation warden). All young people between 18 and 30 years of age can apply. To assure fairness,... Show More + beneficiaries are chosen through a public lottery. The program is so popular that some young people admit to praying all night that they will be among those selected.As Côte d’Ivoire gets back on its feet following a decade of political, economic, and social unrest, tackling youth employment has become a priority,” says Hamoud Abdel Wedoud Kamil, a World Bank’s Senior Education Specialist and task leader of the PEJEDEC project. “One of the key objectives of this program is to provide participants new skills that would make them more employable, increase their earning potential and, in some cases, give them the resources to start their own businesses,” he adds. In addition to guaranteeing six consecutive months of income to those hired — who receive monthly wages amounting to Show Less -

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo hosted the luncheon and presented the youth recommendations to the Heads of State,... Show More + heads of development agencies and regional organizations. Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa led the World Bank delegation to the AU Summit, and also attended the African Youth Forum.Despite impressive growth experienced by many African nations in recent years, poverty and youth employment remain persistent challenges. During the event, various Heads of State and their representatives laid out their priorities to directly address those challenges.Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn highlighted the need to understand the frustrations of youth and help them to be better organized to direct that frustration toward productive purposes. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta described a number of youth-targeted programs implemented in Kenya and emphasized that policies m Show Less -

Education and skills gap in the PacificCurrently, the Pacific region experiences high youth unemployment and under employment, with estimates reaching up to 70 or 80 percent. Perhaps most troubling, studies... Show More + indicate that an increasing number of urban youth in the Pacific are being marginalized. They endure inequality, exclusion and poverty and are vulnerable to engaging in risky behaviors, such as substance abuse and involvement in crime and violence.Many young people feel shut off from the jobs market. It is not simply that the jobs are not there. Employers report that they cannot fill available positions as candidates youth lack basic skills to engage in formal employment or have never had the opportunity to get work experience or training.In Papua New Guinea, just a tiny fraction of the population have completed secondary school, with slightly higher figures for urban groups. Youth are therefore ill-equipped with the basic skills that are required to be productive and have Show Less -

New Employment OpportunitiesJohn’s story is common to many in the Solomon Islands, a country that went through a period of conflict from 1998 to 2003. Long-standingdisputes remained, with violent riots... Show More + erupting in 2006. The government was already grappling with continued fragility, high population growth and high unemployment, when the 2009 global economic crisis hit its shores.To help John and vulnerable communities in Honiara, the World Bank, working alongside the government, setup the Rapid Employment Project (REP) in 2010. The project provided skills training and jobs to improve people’s employment prospects while giving them cash income.Under the project, John and many others from his communityhelped maintain the roads in the Honiara. With the money earned from the project, John was able to build his own kiosk selling daily items which has improved the lives of his family.Special focus on Women and YouthFinding work for women was even harder, since they lack formal education. To a Show Less -

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2013—African Ministers of Finance, during a press briefing April 20th at the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings, discussed Africa’s steady growth in the past decade, regional trade, and... Show More + open borders. The ministers emphasized the need for infrastructure development, energy, the creation of employment especially for youth, stressing the need to build Africa’s middle class in order to increase Africa’s consumer base, and appealed for more foreign investment to Africa. The four ministers from Nigeria, the Union of Comoros, South Sudan and Cameroon also highlighted the challenge of ensuring economic growth leads to poverty reduction.“We do not want growth that is not inclusive,” said Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance. “Our focus must be on improving the lives of those at the bottom rung of the ladder.”Speaking on Africa’s economic performance, Minister Okonjo-Iweala said, “Africa has held a st Show Less -

This page is about outcomes of the MENA Tourism Workshop help in Tunis and DC.With its world-class combination of cultural and natural attractions, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has long... Show More + held a powerful allure for tourists. It has made tourism an important source of revenue and growth. In 2011, the industry contributed an estimated US$107.3 billion, representing 4.5 percent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product, and accounted for 4.5 million jobs, almost seven percent of total employment.Even with this prominent position in the region’s economy, tourism could be doing much more. It could provide more employment, especially for excluded segments of society such as women and young people. Tourism could also be a greater source of revenue for local communities.Like many other sectors, tourism has also suffered as a result of the recent political turmoil in the region, and the ongoing economic instability in Europe. Tourist arrivals declined by 9% to 72 million in 2011, a Show Less -

Key FindingsThailand’s strong economic growth over the past decade has recently seen it graduate from a Middle to an Upper Middle Income Country in the World Bank classification. Economic growth and a... Show More + corresponding improvement in access to and quality of public services has been concentrated in Bangkok and the central region, leaving significant deficiencies in other parts of the country including the North and Northeast and contributing to unequal human development outcomes. Addressing these issues will be a key step in Thailand's continued development towards high-income country status. Currently, 72 % of Thailand's general public expenditures are being spent in Bangkok, which is home to 17% of the country’s population and produces 26% of the GDP. In contrast, the Northeast, which holds 34 % of the country's population, receives 6% of the expenditures.Looking ahead, Thailand could focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending to help counteract reg Show Less -

The World Bank Group has been a development partner in Nepal for the past four decades, providing financing, technical assistance and advice.Over the years, the Bank’s support has evolved in focus and... Show More + form to meet the changing needs of Nepal. But this partnership has always maintained a primary purpose: the reduction of poverty to raise the living standards of the Nepali people.The World Bank provided its first technical assistance grant to Nepal in 1964 to finance and organize a transport survey. But the first credit was approved in 1969 for a telecommunications project.Over the next decade, the Bank’s assistance focused mainly on agriculture, irrigation and infrastructure development in telecommunications, highways, power, and water supply and sanitation.As our partnership evolved, it became apparent that development had to be inclusive to be successful and sustainable. While working to improve the transfer of its extensive development knowledge , the World Bank become an active list Show Less -